Most of us know the story of Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who kept a diary of her time in hiding from the Nazi’s during World War II. Rosie Khdir looks at Anne Frank Huis, the setting for one of the most famous books in the world.

Visiting this house is an extremely moving experience, as it explores the lives of a family and a people who were treated horrifically during the war.

Otto Frank, the father of Anne, decided not only to publish the touching works of his daughter but, along with the Anne Frank Foundation, managed to save the very house it was written in from demolition.

It is now a museum, one with a story and a history within its very walls, of a family’s last hope of staying together, and staying alive. The little mementoes left behind, from the lines on the wall that show the growth of the children, to the pictures Anne pasted on the wall, help you to visualise how life would have been for the family in hiding.

The front of the house where the office and storage rooms were has been returned to the original style, and the house is decorated with images and quotes from Anne telling visitors her story as they walk round. Photographs from when Anne and her sister were younger are on show, along with objects from her childhood.

Otto had scale models made to show visitors just how little space they had during their two years in hiding. There are also video extracts from an interview the late Otto gave in 1967, and here you can see notes he made himself on his journey back from Auschwitz.

The diary room is a very special place where her original diaries including the famous red and white book, are kept in glass cases.

Along with this collection of Anne Frank artefacts, the Anne Frank Huis also holds temporary exhibitions which focus on the wartime persecution of Jews, contemporary fascism, racism and anti-Semitism. The current “Free2choose” exhibition is one which focuses on human rights and democracy.

The museum is located in the center of Amsterdam on the Prinsengracht, and buses stop at the nearby Westermarkt.

Millions of people visit this house every year to see with their own eyes the place they have read about in The Diary of a Young Girl.

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Image credit: © Anne Frank House

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